Tidal Now Lets Users Block Artists and Songs

The new feature comes amid growing concerns from fans over how streaming services should handle music by artists with troubling pasts, such as R. Kelly.

Starting today, Tidal is giving users the ability to block artists and tracks from appearing in curated playlists, following in the footsteps of Spotify, which unveiled a similar feature last month.

On Tidal, the blocking feature works for the streaming platform's algorithmically curated products, personalized "My Mix" and Artist and Track Radio. To remove content that arises on these playlists, users simply press a block icon that appears on the "playing" page. From there, they may choose to either block the specific track, or the artist's entire catalog. If you change your mind, content can be unblocked in settings.

The new feature comes amid growing concerns from fans over how streaming services should handle music by artists with troubling pasts, such as R. Kelly, the R&B artist who has faced years of sexual misconduct allegations, or XXXTentacion, the slain rapper who was accused of domestic battery, among other charges.

Last May, Spotify unveiled a hateful conduct policy, which removed all of R Kelly's music from the streaming service's owned and operated playlists. The decision drew backlash from some in the music industry who worried that Spotify was taking on the slippery slope role of adjudicator — given that Kelly has never been convicted of a crime — and Spotify ultimately scrapped the initiative.

For both platforms, the new block feature appears to put the decision in the hands of the user.

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